Michael P. Jackson, Ph.D.

Overview

Michael P. Jackson was elected to our board On February 12, 2009. Jackson, 54, is president and founder of Firebreak Partners, LLC, which finances and deploys high-value security technologies to protect critical infrastructure. Prior to his current position, Jackson was the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a role in which he served as the chief operating officer responsible for day-to-day operations of a department with an employee base of 210,000 and a budget of $48.5 billion. In addition, Jackson served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation from May 2001 to August 2003 where he particularly focused on DOT's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Prior to joining DOT in 2001, he worked as chief operating officer at Lockheed Martin IMS's Transportation Systems and Services. During his distinguished career, Jackson has held positions for three U.S. Presidents and has coordinated substantial policy, delivered frequent Congressional testimony and interfaced with U.S. and foreign government officials. He has served on the Board of Directors for Amtrak. A native of Houston, Texas, Jackson has a B.A. from University of Houston and a Ph.D. with distinction from the Government Department at Georgetown University. He currently resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Caron, and their daughter.